The first thing Kagura did upon her return, of course, was head straight to the Tracen Dining Hall, as she could still make it for dinner. She wondered if Rudolph Symbol and the others had finished work and were resting.
Walking through the Dining Hall's main entrance, before even going inside, Kagura saw Akikawa Yayoi and Maruzensky, and a bit further away, Excellent Quality. They were all sitting in some seats to the right, looking like they were waiting to eat, but judging by their expressions, their mood didn't seem very high.
"Hi, good evening, what's going on with you all...?"
"That voice... It's Kagura!! Kagura is back!!"
Excellent Quality, with excellent hearing and sitting closer to the outside, immediately perked up her ears and looked over. Seeing Kagura walking towards them, the other few people still in their seats all showed surprised expressions, like they had seen a savior, leaving Kagura, who had just returned and was unaware of the situation, completely bewildered.
"No, can someone explain to me what happened here? Why do you all have such expressions??"
"The kitchen! Little sister, look at the kitchen! Only you can stop her!!"
Akikawa Yayoi got up and pointed to the kitchen Kagura often borrowed. Kagura followed Akikawa Yayoi's finger and looked over, and saw a very unexpected person inside:
"Huh? Young Miss??"
Kagura didn't know whether to call it a contrast or what, but seeing Rudolph Symbol wearing an apron and cooking inside, she felt an indescribable strangeness.
"You don't know, Rudolph was so abnormal today! This morning when I went to the office, I heard her muttering, 'Rudolph, Rudolph, you can't be so useless anymore. You can definitely do it without Kagura! You can do better than Kagura!' I thought she was just talking, but guess what? At noon, she dragged my sister to the Dining Hall to taste her cooking!"
"A-And then?"
"I was really stupid, truly. I only knew that Rudolph had received an elite education before, so her cooking skills should be decent, but I didn't remember that she hadn't been in a kitchen for years..."
Maruzensky's face was now full of helplessness and regret, looking utterly resigned, and Excellent Quality next to her also wore a bitter, helpless smile:
"The President's cooking isn't that bad, really... it's just, compared to what Kagura makes, it's definitely..."
Rudolph Symbol's cooking skills were actually quite decent. Kagura looked at the dishes already prepared and displayed in the kitchen, and their appearance was okay. But that was in reference to ordinary people. If Kagura was used as a reference, then the things Rudolph Symbol made indeed didn't look very presentable... "Young Miss! Please sit down! I'll take care of this..."
"No! I want to get that feeling back! Even if you're not here, Kagura, I can definitely cook well!"
It seemed Rudolph Symbol was determined today. Kagura felt that she couldn't pull her out with her strength alone... An hour later, Akikawa Yayoi and the others finally received the meal prepared by Rudolph Symbol herself, while Rudolph Symbol sat aside with a bitter and disappointed expression, looking at the knife and fork in her hand and the meal in front of her, doubting her life.
Indeed, as Excellent Quality said, Rudolph Symbol's cooking wasn't inedible, but it certainly wasn't great either. It probably couldn't even compare to the uncles and aunties in the Dining Hall. And Maruzensky and the others had already had their tastes spoiled by Kagura's cooking during this time, so going back to eat what Rudolph Symbol made was somewhat difficult to adapt to.
"This taste... what exactly is this... How... how could I... my cooking skills..."
"Young Miss, while it's commendable to cook for yourself, you have me by your side now. Let me handle this from now on."
Kagura tasted what Rudolph Symbol made. The problems weren't actually that big; it was just that her control over seasoning wasn't very good, her control over the heat wasn't very good, and her control over stir-frying techniques probably wasn't very good either...
—Isn't that everything that's a problem!? (Annoyed)
Eclipse's handwriting flashed across Kagura's phone screen. It was clear that, along with Kagura herself, Eclipse, who had curiously joined in to try the taste, also suffered a taste shock.
"No, I must still... tomorrow..."
"Young Miss! Please sit down!" "Rudolph! Please sit down!"
Seeing Rudolph Symbol's intention to continue her efforts tomorrow, Kagura and Akikawa Yayoi quickly stopped her.
Watching the people at the table eat Rudolph Symbol's cooking, stopping and starting, Kagura felt that the expressions on their faces were all more or less difficult to maintain. Even Rudolph Symbol herself was eating with a bitter look. Kagura suddenly felt lucky that she had listened to Eclipse and bought two buns on the way to fill her stomach.
"Little sister, you must make me a meal tomorrow so I can recover…"
With the thought of setting a good example for the children and not wasting food, Akikawa Yayoi still diligently moved her chopsticks. The fact that her verbal tic was gone showed how much she was suffering while eating.
"Well…"
Kagura scratched her head. She remembered that she seemed to have left something in the kitchen that could help with the current situation.
Walking into the kitchen and rummaging through the refrigerator, Kagura found a small lunchbox. Not long ago, Kagura saw a batch of unused radishes in the Dining Hall. The staff were originally wondering how to deal with them. With the idea of not wasting, Kagura simply cut the radishes, added sugar, ginger, garlic, chili, vinegar, and soy sauce, and pickled them. By her calculations, they should be ready to eat today.
"Kagura… what did you get?"
Excellent Quality saw Kagura coming out of the kitchen with a sealed lunchbox. Her intuition told her that Kagura must have some backup plan.
—Look! A Support Musume! The situation is in our favor!
The Uma Musume present were all thinking this, looking expectantly at Kagura as she brought the lunchbox over.
"Don't look at me like that! I haven't hidden anything delicious! It's just some sour radishes. It's fine to help you finish your meal today."
As she spoke, Kagura opened the lid of the lunchbox and placed it on the table.
Maruzensky curiously picked up a slice of radish and chewed it. Soon, she showed a surprised expression, then picked up a few more pieces into her bowl and began to devour them. The others, who were waiting for Maruzensky to test the effect, also picked up their chopsticks and began to put radishes into their bowls… Before long, several Uma Musume walked out of the Dining Hall with full bellies, looking like they still wanted more.
"Young lady, you've exceeded your intake today…"
Although it was based on the principle of not wasting food, Kagura carefully calculated the brunch she gave her plus this meal Rudolph Symbol made herself. Rudolph Symbol should have eaten a bit too much today.
"Sorry, sorry… it's just… it was indeed sweet and sour and appetizing… I unconsciously ate too much…"
Rudolph Symbol also suddenly realized she had eaten too much. To be honest, the food she made didn't taste good, but Kagura's pickles were so powerful that they completely overpowered the original taste of the ingredients with a stronger flavor.
"Question! Little sister, where do you usually keep your pickled radishes?"
"In the Student Council kitchen refrigerator. I think Chairwoman, you shouldn't set your sights on these radishes. Eating too many pickled vegetables isn't healthy."
Seeing Akikawa Yayoi asking where her radishes were hidden, Kagura knew without thinking that she must be planning to come over and snatch some whenever she had nothing to do. And Akikawa Yayoi was definitely not the only one with this idea, because she saw Maruzensky, though silent, also perking up her ears and looking at her curiously.
"Don't worry! I just want to eat some when I don't have an appetite in the future!"
"Don't let me catch you stealing pickled radishes in the future…"
Kagura sighed helplessly. She didn't want these Uma Musume to come looking for pickled vegetables when they had nothing to do. Her intuition told her that this batch of radishes she made probably wouldn't last through the month.
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